In the world of personal finance, some topics are serious—and others less so. Since it’s the holiday season, it seems appropriate to look back at some of the lighter stories of the year.

Comedian. Back in 2019, artist Maurizio Cattelan unveiled a collection he called “Comedian.” The item that received the most attention: a sculpture that consisted only of a banana duct-taped to a wall. The banana gained fame when it sold at a Miami auction for $120,000—but that wasn’t the end of the story.

Just before Thanksgiving this year, Sotheby’s auctioned another of Cattelan’s bananas. Perhaps owing to inflation, it sold for quite a bit more. A crypto entrepreneur and billionaire named Justin Sun beat out competitors with a bid of $6.2 million.

Shortly after winning, though, Sun had a thought: “Eating it at a press conference can also become a part of the artwork’s history,” Sun said. And that’s exactly what he did. Later, Sun commented on the taste: “To be honest, for a banana with such a back story, the taste is naturally different from an ordinary one.”

Eye of the beholder. If a banana is taped to a wall, does that make it art? That’s debatable, but I don’t think it compares to the work of Italian artist Salvatore Garau. In 2021, he unveiled what he called an “immaterial sculpture.” It was literally invisible. But as Garau explained it, immaterial doesn’t mean that the sculpture doesn’t exist. In fact, the sculpture is delivered with a certificate of authenticity which certifies that the sculpture exists in the artist’s mind.

The first “immaterial” sculpture sold for about $18,000, so naturally Garau chose to build on this success. He later unveiled another invisible work, in front of the New York Stock Exchange building. This installation was backed by the Italian Cultural Institute, which sent representatives to the unveiling ceremony. It was as if The Emperor’s New Clothes had come to life.

In the years since, Garau has added to his immaterial series. He unveiled “Buddha in Contemplation” in the Piazza Della Scala in Milan. Because the sculpture was invisible, a white square on the ground let observers know where it was. And earlier this year, Garau presented “Invisible Buddha.”

How does Garau justify his invisible works? “My sculptures are carved from air and spirit,” he says. Does that make any sense? It’s unclear—but he’s certainly a good salesman.

On principle. In June 2019, a Pennsylvania woman named Jennifer Montgomery purchased two bottles of Perrier water from her local Sheetz convenience store. For these purchases, Montgomery was charged a total of 24 cents in sales tax.

This might not sound very newsworthy, but to Montgomery, the sales tax she was charged was an injustice. That’s because Pennsylvania taxes soft drinks but not water. So Montgomery filed a request for a refund with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, but her request was denied.

Montgomery then filed suit against the state. In Montgomery v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, she sought a refund of her 24 cents. Among the points she made: Perrier is naturally sparkling when it comes out of the ground, so it shouldn’t be put in the same category as artificially-carbonated drinks like soda.

But the court disagreed. Earlier this year, after a five-year battle, the court affirmed the Department of Revenue’s position that Perrier is indeed a soft drink and should be subject to tax. Though Perrier is just water, the court said, it is nonetheless carbonated, and that makes it subject to tax.

Poorly executed. When it comes to the lottery, disputes and malfeasance are common. But a Florida couple made news this year with an unusual effort to defraud their state lottery. Kira Enders and her boyfriend, Dakota Jones, decided to tape together two losing tickets in such a way that it appeared they had the winning numbers for a $1 million jackpot. But when Enders showed up at the lottery office in Pensacola, officials were suspicious, so they decided to question Enders and Jones separately.

When asked why the ticket was taped together, Enders explained that the ticket had fallen out of her car on a rainy day and had gotten wet. Then, before letting it dry, she had tried scratching it, and that’s what caused it to come apart. It was for that reason, she said, that it was taped together.

It might have been a plausible explanation, but when he was questioned, Jones told a different story. The couple had been out for a walk on a country road in DeFuniak Springs, he said, when they happened upon a severed ticket lying in the road. They decided to tape the pieces together, and that’s when they realized it had the winning numbers.

The Escambia County sheriff was not impressed: “It was clear to the lottery officials, and obviously clear to us, that she had taken two tickets with different, you know, one side had one serial number, the other side had the other serial number on it…If you’re gonna try to claim a million dollars, you’ve got to do a lot better than this,” he said. They now face prosecution.

Policy proposal. Nothing in personal finance seems to generate as much disagreement as cryptocurrency. The late Charlie Munger called it “rat poison.” Others, meanwhile, see it as the future. Some even see it as the solution to our national debt.

Cynthia Lummis is a senator from Wyoming who has proposed a “strategic bitcoin reserve” to be held by the federal government. She compares it to the government’s strategic petroleum reserve but sees it as even more valuable. If bitcoin appreciates, as she expects it will, it could allow us to pay off the federal debt. “Put future Americans on a better footing, unencumbered by debt that they never supported or benefitted from,” she’s said.

Not everyone is convinced. In an exchange with Lummis on Twitter, hedge fund manager Cliff Asness has called the proposal “ridiculous” and “idiotic” and challenges her to explain why we shouldn’t also have a “strategic Powerball reserve.”

Charitably-minded. The philosophical debate over cryptocurrency probably won’t be settled any time soon. But this year, there’s been one crypto story I suspect everyone can agree on.

Back in 2016, James Fickel was a 25-year-old software developer who also enjoyed trading stocks and cryptocurrencies on the side. In a well-timed bet, Fickel made a six-figure investment in the cryptocurrency Ethereum. At the time, it was trading for about 80 cents, but now it’s over $3,000, making Fickel a billionaire. What he’s done with his winnings, though, is heartening. Fickel started a foundation and is giving away not just millions, but hundreds of millions, to support medical research.

Looking ahead to 2025. Is there anything we can learn from these stories to carry into the new year? In my view, there is one common theme. Modern Portfolio Theory creator Harry Markowitz used to describe diversification as “the only free lunch” in finance. That’s because it doesn’t cost anything to diversify, but the benefits can be enormous.

This group of stories, however, suggests there may be another free lunch available to investors, and that’s simplicity. A simple portfolio generally results in lower costs and lower taxes. It’s also easier to monitor and to manage. And perhaps best of all, a simple approach can help us sidestep many of the financial hucksters and schemers out there—whether they’re promoting cryptocurrency, invisible sculptures or anything else